Comparing Mathematics Interventions: The Effects of Cover-Copy-Compare Alone and Combined with Performance Feedback on Digits Correct and Incorrect

The purpose of this study was to compare the isolated effects of cover-copy-compare (CCC) with the combined effects of CCC and two types of performance feedback (i.e., digits correct and incorrect per minute) on sixth grade students’ mathematics fluency and accuracy. An alternating treatments design was employed to compare treatments across 16 weeks. Participants included three general education sixth grade students whose teachers recommended them for additional help with mathematics calculation. No differentiation between treatments was demonstrated for any of the participants and individual differences pertaining to the number of sessions needed to reach and consistently perform at mastery levels were found. Follow-up data at 4 and 12 days following termination of the intervention phase indicated that all participants continued to perform at mastery levels. Generalization to a slightly more difficult mathematics skill yielded pre-intervention to post-intervention increases, albeit small. Students rated all three treatment conditions favorably.     

Using performance feedback to improve treatment integrity of classwide behavior plans: an investigation of observer reactivity

The current study replicated the positive effects of performance feedback on treatment integrity and extended previous work by examining reactivity using a multiple baseline design with alternating treatments for observer-present and observer-absent conditions on teachers' implementation of a classwide behavior plan. No differences were found between conditions, and treatment integrity improved across all teachers, suggesting that performance feedback, rather than observer reactivity, was responsible for reported behavior changes.     

The Effects of Coaching on Mathematics Homework Completion and Accuracy of High School Students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

As many as 30% of children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) do not achieve academically at the level predicted by their age or IQ. One of the variables that may contribute to their poor academic performance is homework completion. Unfortunately, a paucity of research has investigated interventions that address homework problems, particularly at the secondary level. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a coaching intervention that incorporated self-monitoring, goal-setting, and systematic fading on the homework completion and accuracy of three high-school students diagnosed with AD/HD. Results suggest that coaching led to improvements across all three students. Performance was maintained during fading and post-treatment for the two students for whom it was examined.     

Introduction to the Special Issue: Toward an Explicit Technology for Generalizing Academic Behavior

This special issue of the Journal of Behavioral Education was designed to call attention to a much needed area of academic intervention research: generalization programming. Although the occurrence of generalized responding across items, settings, tasks, and time is clearly recognized as a goal of intervention, less research has been devoted to the technology through which such generalization may occur. This introductory article revisits the concept of generalization and the methods that may be used to facilitate generalization.